


Girls Day

by Fabrisse



Category: RED (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Misses Clause Challenge, Violence kept to movie's levels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-20 00:11:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12421047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse





	Girls Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Prinzenhasserin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prinzenhasserin/gifts).



“What do you mean a girl’s day?” Frank Moses seemed curious about the concept, especially as it pertained to Victoria Winslow.

Sarah said, “Well, when **_I_** say girl’s day, I mean mani-pedis, a nice lunch or early dinner with drinks, and lots of gossip. With Victoria…?”

“And you want to go?”

“Yeah. I mean you’ve lost a good friend in Joe, and Marvin’s still a bit…” Sarah thought the word “paranoid” but managed to say, “distrustful of me. I don’t blame him. He’s had reason to be distrustful, but you two are never going to really hang out with me around. Or with Victoria, for that matter.”

“Marvin is a paranoid lunatic with a line into every conspiracy theory since the sixteenth century,” Frank said, “but you’re right. Neither of us fully trusts Victoria, as much as I like her, which is why this sudden need for a girl’s day worries me.”

“You don’t trust me to take care of myself.”

Frank saw the abyss yawning and managed to step around it. “Of course I do. Victoria seems to like you, too. But I’d feel better if you took an alarm with you.”

Sarah looked mischievous. “I’ll take the alarm, but I want to make a bet with you.”

Frank raised an eyebrow. 

“My bet is that Victoria will either find it in under five minutes or have some type of jammer on her that means she doesn’t have to search my purse to keep it from working.”

Frank kissed her and gave a half smile. “No bet. Forget the alarm.”

***   
She’d been a little taken aback by Victoria requesting she wear something that could get dirty and that she bring a dinner dress and yoga clothes, but it hadn’t taken Sarah long to pack a small overnight bag. Her hostess gift to Victoria was a messenger bag with a solar panel in it, in case she needed to go off the grid. 

Victoria seemed thrilled at her thoughtfulness and took her out to the terrace for coffee and pastries. “Shall I be mother?” she asked as she poured cups for both of them.

Sarah cocked her head and asked, “Did you just slip something into my coffee?” She’d originally worried that there were going to be other guests when she saw the setting for six for morning coffee. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

Victoria beamed at her. “Very good, Sarah. Frank has obviously been training you.” Patting Sarah’s hand she said, “It would only have knocked you out for a little while. Long enough that Bobbie would have painted your toenails some gruesome color during your pedicure as a warning.”

“Gruesome?”

“I was thinking an electric purple, or possibly orange glitter. Something at least mildly embarrassing.”

“I have six year old twin nieces. You won’t scare me that easily,” Sarah said with a twinkle in her eye.

Victoria laughed. She put the cup with adulterated coffee on a separate table and poured a fresh cup for Sarah who watched her hands very closely. “It’s important to pay attention -- politely, of course -- if you plan to share a long life with Frank. Cream? Sugar?”

“Which do you take?”

“You’re safe. In coffee, I take both.”

Sarah said yes to cream and no to sugar. “Do you think Frank’s in danger?”

Victoria said, “Of course, he is. He always was and always will be. Half the time, he’s in danger from his friends. He’s in danger from his enemies all the time,” she added offhandedly. “But I have complete confidence in Frank. It’s you, I’m worried about.”

Sarah peered at her. “Now, I’m wondering if you mean that or if you’re someone I should worry about.”

“Exactly. I do mean it. There aren’t enough women in this field and while you’re mostly an adjunct to Frank, I see potential. Will I come after you if the money’s good enough?” She thought for a moment. “Probably not. No offense, Sarah, but at the moment you’re not a challenge. But just because I probably won’t and Marvin is unlikely to doesn’t mean you don’t need to be on guard, for yourself, not just for Frank. Have a scone.”

Sarah took one and added some jam to distract herself. “You’re not having any?”

Victoria fixed a scone of her own and bit into it. “Excellent. It won’t work in all circumstances, but making the other person eat first is one way to find out if something’s been adulterated.”

“I admit, I wasn’t expecting a minefield, well a social one, I know about the one around the property and…”

“No need to prattle. Today I’m on my best behavior. Of course, we’ll cover some topics, but I promise nothing today will be anything other than it seems.”

Sarah found herself smiling back at Victoria and then realized, the prospect was still quietly terrifying.

***   
“Now, Sarah, men have an awful tendency to refer to something this size as a ‘lady’s gun,’ but there is nothing wrong with having something that won’t break your hand the first time you use it. With practice, you’ll be able to handle any handgun Frank or I might have about the place, but you should have your own, and this is a perfectly good size. I chose a 9 mm so that you and Frank could share bullets. And I thought a Smith and Wesson would be a good choice since you’re so very American.”

Sarah wondered briefly if the remark had been intended as an insult, but decided it wasn’t worth the headache. “Frank uses a Glock, right?”

“He always used to. They’re reliable enough, but I’ve always preferred a Ruger. Marvin prefers American made. He had a bad problem with a Beretta back in the day, but honestly, a gun is a gun. It’s either a single shot, like a revolver or a semi-automatic. Technically, this one has an automatic mode, but this is America and that’s not allowed.”

“Yours is on full automatic, isn’t it?” Sarah said.

“Absolutely.” Victoria chuckled. “If I want to make certain something coming at me stops, I don’t have time to keep resetting the trigger. For now, yours is on semi automatic, so that you have time to get used to it. Before I’m through with you -- today I hope -- you’ll be fully conversant with automatic mode as well.” She walked Sarah through the basics of unloading, loading, and checking the chamber, before handing her some earmuffs. “There are five targets at differing distances. I want you to walk to the first one and shoot then walk to the second one and do the same thing. I’ve set it to single shot for the moment. And Sarah, don’t be surprised if you don’t hit any of the targets. They’re at awkward distances and angles.”

Sarah took a deep breath and covered her ears. She used her thumb to flip the safety off and went to the line, walking it until she saw the first target. She did her best to remember how to hold it and stand correctly and fired the first shot. It took her more than two minutes to find and shoot all five targets as some of them were concealed, but she made an attempt at each one. When she was done, she called, “Clear,” and took the earmuffs off. 

Victoria answered her with, “Clear,” and suddenly there were men collecting the dummies from the range. 

As all five of them were brought forward, Sarah found herself a bit embarrassed. “I only hit three.”

“Four,” Victoria corrected, and showed where one had a wound in its elbow. 

“Not exactly a kill shot.”

“No, but someone without a working elbow is a less dangerous enemy, especially if he can only shoot with one hand. You weren’t afraid of taking the shot which is generally the trouble with nice people. Don’t bother to deny it, if you weren’t so likable, I’d call you disgustingly nice. There are worse ways to be. You’ll always be able to get under people’s guard which is a distinct advantage.”

“But Frank’s always telling me aim for the center mass and take a second shot on the recoil because you’re more likely to get a head shot.”

“Very true, but -- and this is important -- if you’re on the run or pinned down, you may not get that chance. Take the shot you have.”

“Even if all you do is hit an elbow.” Sarah sighed, but nodded dutifully.

“Now, I will also mention one other thing you did wrong.”

Sarah focused on her. “What?”

“You let me stand behind you with a weapon in my hand.”

Sarah swallowed hard. “Ummm.” Finally she said, “Even if I can’t see it, don’t you always have a weapon? Weapons?”

“Of course, I do, but most people -- even henchmen -- aren’t as well prepared as I am. Never let anyone stand behind you with a weapon you know about.” Victoria thought for a moment. “And try to make certain you always have at least one weapon _they_ don’t know about.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be much good at knife fighting.”

“Who said anything about knife fighting?” Victoria smiled warmly, “Now, knife _throwing_ should be your skill. Best to keep them at a distance.”

***   
By the end of the morning, Sarah was able to hit all five targets -- though the one furthest away usually ended up with a shoulder wound rather than a clean body shot -- in under a minute. She was comfortable with both semi-automatic and single shot settings. They’d mutually decided that full automatic mode would wait for another get together. 

“Janey will come and give us a private yoga lesson before lunch. I have a steam bath downstairs and after lunch, Bobbie is coming with someone else from her shop to give us both mani-pedis and a quick massage.”

“Victoria, that’s so much trouble to take.”

“Not at all. I don’t have anyone for girl talk or the like. I’d be doing it anyway, why not ask a pleasant guest to join me?”

Sarah smiled and said, “Well, next time I’ll kick Frank out for the weapon’s training and take us out for haircuts and lunch.”

“That sounds lovely.”

***  
Sarah came away from the yoga session with a deep admiration for Victoria’s flexibility. (“It’s like your niceness,” Victoria had said, “something unexpected.”)

Lunch was light and had few attempts at poisoning, though Sarah nearly fell for using a different salad dressing than Victoria was pouring from. The steam bath, with someone who came in and beat them with birch branches no less, had felt heavenly and now Bobbie was giving Sarah a massage while Victoria was having her nails done by Donna. 

Sarah groaned as Bobbie’s elbow loosened a knot.

Victoria chuckled, “I find I stand up to torture better after one of Bobbie’s deep tissue massages.”

Sarah said, “Mmmmm.” After a minute, “I know you and Frank were never an item, but did he have a lot of girlfriends before he retired?”

“A few. None of them good for him, any more than I would have been good for him. People who are too alike get bored with each other.”

“Yeah, but I bet they were all glamorous. I mean, you’re positively regal, and I know I couldn’t carry off white the way you do.”

Victoria said, “Wait until your hair greys. It does wonders with white clothing. Frank doesn’t need glamor. Don’t get me wrong, he’d rather stay at the Georges V than a pension when he’s in Paris…”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Exactly. But he’s fine grabbing coffee and an omelette from a cafe on a back street, and too many of his lady friends would be whingeing if the bistro didn’t have at least two stars in the Guide Michelin. Knowing how to live well doesn’t mean expensive, and too many people either forget that or never knew it in the first place.”

“I like being the one he comes home to -- I mean now that we’re sharing a home -- but I always wonder if he misses the life.”

“He probably does. God knows I have to keep my hand in or I’d go insane, but Frank never needed it the way most of the rest of us do. For him it was just a job. A fascinating and ever changing job, but a job just the same.”

Sarah thanked Bobbie, and just lay there for a minute or two before saying, “I’m glad you think I’m a good match.”

“I think Donna’s ready for you,” Victoria said. 

Sarah wisely dropped the subject and asked Victoria about Royal Ascot.

***   
Frank came to pick her up around half past five and gave her a long, low whistle. 

“Doesn’t she look smashing,” Victoria said with a slightly proprietary pride.

“She does,” Frank said, and kissed Sarah lightly. “Just tell me she didn’t teach you the drugged lipstick trick.”

“Drugged lipstick exists? I just thought it was a plot device,” Sarah managed to sound like a bouncy teenager at the prospect.

“I hadn’t,” Victoria said to Frank. To Sarah she added, “Yes, it exists, and I promise you, next time.”

The two women chuckled complicitly and exchanged air kisses so as not to spoil their make up. 

“We have reservations at the Country Inn for dinner and there’s a dance performance at the Capitol Theater,” Frank said. “Victoria warned me to show you off tonight.”

“Warned you?”

“Gave me a heads up?”

“Better.”

Frank opened the car door and kissed her cheek as she got in. “You always look good, but tonight you really do look stunning.”

Sarah smiled. “There’ll be more girls’ days. I think Victoria might be a little lonely, at least for female company.”

“Maybe she is. Next time, ask her for better ways to conceal a gun. Your purse looks too heavy, and it could be a give away to a professional.”

“I’ll add it to my list.”


End file.
